Born in Tokyo. While pursuing composition self-taught, he met Hiroshi Suzuki and Toru Takemitsu, among others, and joined the artist group "Jikken Kobo" (Experimental Workshop). From his unique style, which superimposes the philosophies of Zen and Noh onto Webern-esque pointillistic twelve-tone music, he produced many works, especially for flute. His Ekagra (1957) for flute and piano was highly praised by Stravinsky alongside Takemitsu's Requiem for strings, and his Mei (1962) for flute gained attention at the Darmstadt International Summer Course for New Music, thus attracting international notice. However, from the late 1970s, he shifted the focus of his activities to the study of traditional East Asian music. He is a Professor at Ueno Gakuen University.